He was arraigned on a first-degree murder charge in Tampa Friday morning and was held without bail.

Singleton, under California's old sentencing laws, got a maximum prison term of 14 years for his 1978 attack on Vincent. He served nearly 8-1/4 years, getting time off for good behavior. If it had been up to Stahl, Singleton would have gotten life in prison with no parole.

And chances are if he'd been sentenced today, he would have faced a lifetime behind bars, according to state Attorney General Dan Lungren.

"Had our laws been as tough in 1978 as they are today, Lawrence Singleton would never have left California's prisons," Lungren said. "The murder he has reportedly taken responsibility for would never have occurred.

"Laws such as three strikes, the one-strike law for violent sex offenders, the reduction of so-called "good behavior' credits for violent criminals, expanded prison space and tougher judges - these work."

Could have gotten life

Under the one-strike law passed in 1994, Singleton could have been sentenced to two life sentences for attempted premeditated murder and violent rape in the Vincent case, said Lungren assistant Matt Ross. And he would have had to serve 85 percent of whatever sentence he received.

In addition, California passed a law in 1995 that allows the Corrections and Mental Health departments to recommend that especially violent sex offenders be designated as sexually violent predators.

Such prisoners can be committed to state mental hospitals instead of being released on parole. But of 747 inmates recommended for commitment so far, only two have been confined to hospitals after jury trials.

"They should really stick to him and just put him away and do their job right this time," Mary Vincent's mother, Lucy Vincent, told KPIX-TV on Thursday from her Las Vegas home. "These people in Florida should really, really make sure that he's put away for good."

Singleton picked up a hitchhiking Mary Vincent in Berkeley on Sept. 30, 1978, and drove her 70 miles southeast to a remote road near Modesto, where he sexually assaulted her and hacked off her arms. He stuffed her in a culvert and left her for dead. She survived and testified against him.

Singleton was paroled in 1987 after his sentence was reduced by good behavior and a law designed to relieve prison overcrowding.

Parole officials eventually had to house him in a trailer at San Quentin prison after 500 residents in Rodeo protested his move there, forcing police to escort him away. Other California cities also mounted protests to keep him away.

He moved to Florida in 1988 and was arrested there three times for shoplifting. Three weeks ago he attempted suicide, neighbors said.

Singleton was arrested Wednesday after police responding to a 911 call found Hayes' body lying on the floor and Singleton drenched in blood. He told police he had cut himself chopping vegetables.

Those who knew Hayes described her as a devoted mother of three who struggled for a decade with drugs and supported her family through prostitution.

She had been arrested 99 times in the past 11 years, mostly for prostitution and drug-related offenses.

California law enforcement officials said Thursday they were saddened by the slaying, but not surprised. Gov. Wilson called Singleton an animal who should never have been released.

Terry Rusk, a former Sparks, Nev., detective who questioned Singleton after the assault on Vincent, said he'd expected Singleton would get in more trouble.

"When I woke up this morning and saw the news, it didn't shock me a bit," said Rusk, now an investigator for the Washoe County district attorney.

"He got only 14 years, but if he'd perpetrated those crimes in Nevada he'd have been serving a life sentence."

"any DA in California would line up to give this guy a life prison sentence."

"And not just by hindsight," Hallinan said. "I remember at the time how everyone thought the sentence was too light."

Experts also appalled

Experts who work with sex offenders also questioned how Singleton could have been released.

"There is a certain point where the violation of another is so clearly out of line," said Dr. James Kent, head of the Center for Special Problems, The City's only treatment center for sex offenders. "Anybody who had anything to do with him thought he was flat-out dangerous."

Kent urged developing better predictors for violent behavior. But in Singleton's case, it should have been obvious, he said.

"Chopping off her arms should have been the clue that this is beyond the realm of rehabilitable behavior," he said. "I don't know where the line should be drawn, but someone should have alerted folks: Don't let this guy loose."

Dr. Fred Berlin, founder of the sex disorders clinic at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, believes many sex offenders can be rehabilitated, but agreed Singleton was

"at the end of the spectrum" and perhaps should have been "quarantined indefinitely."

Still, Berlin worries the public and lawmakers will extrapolate from this extreme case that sex offenders are not treatable. In fact, he said, various forms of treatment, from intense therapy to voluntary chemical castration, when combined with ongoing surveillance, can sometimes prevent repeat offenses.

California prisons, which house an estimated 14,000 sex offenders, offer no treatment, according to the Department of Corrections.